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By Maricel E. Burgonio, Reporter
The Monetary Board has approved in principle the
proposed agricultural loan from international organizations to
support farm projects in the Cordillera region, according to Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Armando Suratos, BSP deputy governor, said MB
has approved in principle the proposed $10-million loan from OPEC
Fund for International Development to partially finance the second
Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management project (Charm
II).
The second phase of the project will also be
supported by the $27-million loan from the United Nation’s unit
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and $10
million loan from Asian Development Bank.
The three international organizations will
finance the P3.06-billion project in the Cordillera region, which is
known for vegetable production. Charm II will also support rice
production and improvement in road facilities.
“The project aims to reduce poverty in the
Cordilleras by increasing the incomes of small holder farm families
in the municipalities of Abra, Benguet and Mountain Province,”
Suratos said.
The Monetary Board also approved in principle
the IFAD loan last February this year, but the Department of Finance
has not submitted the ADB loan proposal.
The loan from OPEC Fund has a maturity of 20
years, inclusive of 5-year grace period. It has an interest rate of
3 percent per annum.
The National Economic and Development Authority
approved Charm II in December last year, which will be implemented
within a seven-year period starting this year and ending in 2014.
The initial project was implemented in 1997 and 2004.
The project aims to increase farm income through
sustainable farming and agricultural enterprises and to protect and
conserve natural resources in the Cordillera Administrative Region
(CAR). It is also expected to improve the land tenure security in
CAR through the formulation of Ancestral Domain Sustainable
Development Protection Plans.
Suratos said the national government will be the
borrower while Department of Agriculture will implement the project.
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